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Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Bullwhacker Bypass Road BLM Proposal

Attention
Public Land Access Advocates

The
BLM Missouri Breaks Monument Manager, Mike Kania, has started an
Environmental Analysis (EA)
process to decide whether BLM should construct a new,
by-pass road around the Wilks property to gain public road access
into the Bullwhacker watershed.

This
preliminary step in the EA process now ongoing is called: ‘scoping.’
In this stage BLM is gathering comments from the public that identify
the strength of public support both in favor or opposed to the road
construction. Scoping comments also include public proposals for
options different from the BLM plan. At this stage any ideas the
public puts forward are considered relevant. This is the first of
several steps before a final decision is made.

The
three preliminary alternatives being offered by BLM are:

West
Side Route – Build a new road around the west perimeter of the
Wilks property.

East
Side Route – Build a new road around the east perimeter of the
Wilks property.

Please
submit your comment supporting construction of this new by-pass road
either on the east or west side. Take a stand against the ‘NO
ACTION’ alternative. Unless this project moves forward no public
road access in to more than 50,000 acres of public land in the
Bullwhacker area will be forthcoming for the foreseeable future.

Do
not be put off by talk of a land exchange between BLM and the Wilks
Brothers private landowners. No land exchange proposal is currently
under consideration; previous proposals have been evaluated by public
hunters and found to be not in the public interest because they do
not improve public access relative to the public land values being
traded away.

Perhaps
a good proposal will be offered and some agreement on an exchange
will be reached someday, but such exchanges take many years to
complete even when public interests are in agreement. Meanwhile we
have no road access into the Bullwhacker.

The
public access interest is very simple: build the new bypass road.

Below
is a summary of important points to make in your comments

COMMENT
POINTS

Construction
of a new road to provide public motor vehicle access to the
Bullwhacker Watershed is in the broad public interest.

I
support construction of the new bypass road along the ‘East Side’
route described in the EA. And I urge BLM to proceed with
construction as soon as possible.

Historically,
the public has had vehicle access to this area since before
homestead.

Year
round motor access into the Bullwhacker is specified in the Travel
Management section of the BLM Resource Management Plan for the Upper
Missouri Breaks National Monument. Loss of use of the original
right-of-way does not constitute a modification of the BLM Resource
Management Plan.

BLM
constructively contributed to the loss of this historic and
regulatory motor vehicle access by its failure to defend the access
when it was challenged in state court.

BLM
continues to assert an agency policy of improving public access. BLM
also has cited the Bullwhacker as its top priority for achieving
public access to BLM administered land in Montana.

Approximately
50,000 acres of BLM land is without motor vehicle access because of
the current situation in the Bullwhacker Watershed.

All
parties can agree that opening the original Bullwhacker Road to
public use would be the best outcome. Unfortunately that option is
not achievable given the full set of facts at work now and for the
foreseeable future.

Other
Points

Land
Exchanges – The topic of land exchanges
between the BLM and Wilks Brothers as an alternative to new road
construction is irrelevant at this time.

No
exchange proposal currently exists that would not produce strong
public protest and/or litigation. If such a proposal ever appears it
can be discussed on its merits at that time. In the meantime, BLM
should proceed with the business at hand, which is construction of
the new by-pass road, they can stop the road project at any point
prior to construction should an alternative appear.

Feasibility
of Road Construction – Construction of a
new bypass road around the Wilks property is quite feasible. BLM can
obtain a public-private partnership to mitigate costs and the east
side route offered in the EA document is a physically adaptable
route. According to BLM cost of construction on the east side route
is about half the cost of the west side route.

The
Bullwhacker Watershed is not an area that
qualifies as being of wilderness characteristics. This is certainly
a ‘backcountry’ area but it is a working landscape with human
infrastructure in place – including roads, trails, fences,
livestock tanks, permanent corral structures and energy extraction
infrastructure. The natural features of the Bullwhacker are valuable
and worth preserving. But these characteristics realistically are not
diminished by a new road running parallel with an existing road for
five miles along the top of the area’s main ridgeline. The Montana
public always has accessed this area by motor vehicle.

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